The Kingdom Chronicles Box Set 1

by Camille Peters

  He made it sound like I’d gone against a direct order, whereas I’d always considered his cautions against the spell as disapproval from my best friend’s husband, not a command from the prince himself. I gaped at him, speechless, but while my words had become lodged in my throat, luckily my ever-faithful best friend had plenty to say.

  Eileen leapt to her feet and glared at him. “Aiden, stop it.”

  He finally turned his fierce attention away from me to stare at her. “What? She’s left me no choice.”

  “I understand you’re angry, Aiden, but Rosie is my friend. I know what she did was wrong, but can’t we discuss this before you send her away?”

  He frowned. “I’m the crown prince and you’re the crown princess, both bound by duty to the kingdom. There’s no room for personal relationships in—”

  “I don’t care,” Eileen said. “I don’t want you to be a prince right now; I want you to be my husband.”

  Aiden’s expression hardened. “Why are you defending her? Don’t you understand how serious this is?”

  “I do, Aiden, but—”

  “No, you clearly don’t. If you did, you wouldn’t be siding with your silly friend.”

  Eileen’s eyes narrowed. “My silly friend?”

  “I’ve allowed your relationship with that girl to blind me to my duties long enough,” he snapped. “I have a responsibility to my throne and my people. I should have put a stop to her scheme the moment she concocted it, but I tiptoed around her actions because she’s your friend, one who spends far more time inside her head than in reality. Enough is enough. I don’t care who she is, only what she’s done. Don’t you understand the dire consequences of this if the King of Draceria finds out?”

  Eileen folded her arms across her chest. “Of course I do, but I don’t think—”

  “No, I don’t think you really do.” His voice was escalating. “The best friend of the Crown Princess of Sortileya has conspired to damage a union between two other kingdoms. I now have to figure out how to smooth everything over while also facing the reality that a foreign prince was spelled under my roof with no current way to reverse it.”

  The arguments swirled and tension pressed against me, smothering. Desperate for a reprieve, I turned to the one who always seemed to ease my worries. Alastar watched the confrontation with wide eyes. He sensed my gaze and met mine, his own filled with remorse.

  Aiden took several deep, steadying breaths. “I know this is all new for you,” he said slowly. Eileen’s jaw tightened. “I know she’s your friend. But that doesn’t matter right now. You need to understand the obligations that come with the throne.”

  “I’m doing my best,” she said.

  “I know that, Eileen,” he said, his tone finally softening. “You’ve been doing wonderfully, but there’s still much you have to learn. In situations like this, you can’t let your heart rule your head.”

  “Rulers are to have compassion, are they not?”

  “They also have to do what it takes for the benefit of their kingdom, even at great personal sacrifice.”

  “As if I haven’t already sacrificed enough,” she snapped. “Now I’m expected to sacrifice not just my old life but my best friend, too?”

  “That’s not what I’m saying,” he said, exasperated.

  She pressed her hands to her hips. “Then what are you saying?”

  “I’m merely saying that, friend or not, Rosalina has created a huge mess, one that we now have to take responsibility for.”

  I looked back and forth between Aiden and Eileen, my heart tightening. I felt as if all I’d believed about romance was shattering before my very eyes. How could this be happening? The perfect fairy tale couple was fighting. Eileen had found her prince and was now supposed to be living happily ever after. This wasn’t happily ever after at all.

  And it was all my fault. I’d ruined my best friend’s story, making me a villain. I didn’t realize I was sobbing until the fighting couple blurred from my tears. “Please stop fighting,” I managed weakly.

  Eileen’s hardened expression softened. “Oh, Rosie.” She pulled me into a hug. “It’ll be alright.”

  “It will only be alright when she reverses that love spell,” Aiden snapped.

  She glared at him, and for a tense and horrible moment they had a stare down. “I understand, Aiden.”

  He released a whooshing breath. “You do?”

  “Yes.” Her tone was crisp. “Rosie has put the Sortileyan crown in a precarious situation with the Dracerian throne.”

  He nodded, his hardening tone softening into relief. “Yes. Rosalina has tampered with a serious contract.”

  “So she has.” Eileen’s expression was eerily detached. “Because of her actions, you’re asking her to return to Arador in order to find a counterspell.”

  “Yes, darling.” Aiden took her hands in his and gave them a squeeze. Eileen slowly tugged her hands away. Aiden’s forehead furrowed. “Eileen—”

  She lifted her chin defiantly. “If she has to return to Arador, then I’m going with her.”

  His mouth fell open. “Wait, what?”

  “I’ll be going back to Arador with Rosie.” She headed for the door, her skirts swirling in her strange, calm anger. “Come, Rosie, we should pack.”

  I didn’t move. I stood frozen, as did Aiden. He gaped after her before thawing and hurrying towards her. “What are you saying, Eileen?”

  “I’m overdue for a visit to my mother, don’t you think?” she asked, her voice airy. “It’s been far too long since I’ve seen her, but I’ve been so busy with princess duties lately I haven’t had a chance.”

  “Sure, we can visit your—”

  “We are not going to visit my mother; I am.” She kept her back to him so he didn’t see her wobbling chin. But I did. The sight of it was like a knife digging into my heart.

  Aiden didn’t speak. He merely stared at her back, a wall between them, before gently reaching out to stroke her back. “Eileen…”

  She flinched away and spun around, her teary eyes narrowed. “You’ve made your point perfectly clear that my silly friend has caused you all sorts of princely problems.”

  Aiden bit his lip. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called her that.”

  “It’s not me who needs your apology.”

  Aiden glanced at me, his expression twisted in remorse. “My apologies, Rosalina, that I allowed my frustrations to hurt you.” He turned back to Eileen, as if hoping everything would be smoothed over with a simple apology. How I hoped they would be. After all, fighting didn’t belong between a couple living out their happily ever after.

  Eileen folded her arms across her chest. “I’m still leaving for Arador. You’ve clearly outlined the precarious situation, and I wouldn’t dream of taking you away from the palace at such a critical time.”

  “But Eileen—”

  “Apparently, royals are meant to rule with their head, not their heart.”

  Aiden just stared at her. Eileen’s lip trembled.

  “I’m sorry for the circumstances we now find ourselves in, but not as much as I’m sorry I’m not the princess you had in mind when you married me.”

  “Eileen, I—”

  “Because I know I’ve been a disappointment.” Eileen’s eyes were glassy with unshed tears. “But I can’t stand here and be the logical consort you need me to be. I love Rosie. She’s my best friend. I can’t let her go back to Arador alone. But I promise that while I’m there, I’ll help her find a way to reverse the spell.”

  Aiden’s regality crumpled. He cupped her chin. “You’re not a disappointment, Eileen. I never intended for you to feel that way.”

  “I still need to leave.”

  He stroked her cheek. When she didn’t pull away, he bridged the distance that had sprung up between them and rested his forehead against hers. “Are you—” He swallowed before trying again. “Are you unhappy in this life with me?”

  She sighed and wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m not unhappy with you, but I’m overwhelmed by the life you came with. It’s been such a huge adjustment. Can’t you see that?”

  He lowered his eyes. “I did, but I pretended not to. I didn’t want to admit that marrying me thrust you into a life that’s as difficult as you feared.”

  “More so, I must admit,” she said. He flinched. She cradled his cheek. “I need some time away from palace life. I need to go to Arador with Rosie, and you need to stay here.”

  He sighed and reluctantly released her. “Then at least take Alastar.”

  Eileen rolled her eyes. “I don’t need Alastar to accompany me.”

  “Yes, you do. You can’t travel to Arador by yourself. At least grant me that request. Please, Eileen.” His tone was hardening again, but in a different way than before—not with anger but in desperation. He no longer looked like the Dark Prince but instead like a man who felt estranged from his wife…an estrangement that was my fault, just like the political mess he found himself in.

  “I can take care of myself,” Eileen said. “I’ve spent my entire life in Arador without a guard trailing me.”

  “Yes, but that was before,” he said. “You can’t go to Arador without a guard. You’re a princess now.”

  She sighed. “Yes, I suppose I am. But right now I don’t want to be a princess.”

  Aiden flinched again. He opened his mouth to retort but closed it again when words didn’t seem to be forthcoming. With a groan of defeat, he spun around and slumped towards the window and rested his hands on the sill, crumpled and defeated.

  Eileen stared at his back, and when she finally turned away her face was streaked with tears. My heart wrenched. “Eileen, I—”

  She shook her head, dismissing me, and strode towards the door. I slowly followed her, guilt gnawing at my heart, all while the scene I’d just witnessed played repeatedly in my mind. I, Rosalina, had single-handedly created a political mess between three kingdoms, all while destroying my best friend’s fairy tale ending.

  I was the vilest of villains.

  Chapter 19

  “You’re leaving?”

  I sighed. “Yes. As I’ve already told you, something has come up and I must return to Arador for a while.”

  Prince Liam just continued to stare with a blank expression. “But Rosie petal, you can’t return to Arador.” He squeezed my hand, which he hadn’t relinquished since I’d given him the devastating news of my departure.

  “Prince Liam…” I began.

  “Liam, my sweet.” He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to it.

  “Liam, I’m sorry this news upsets you, but I need to return home.”

  He considered the matter before he brightened. “I have it: I’ll come with you.”

  My stomach clenched in horror. That would undoubtedly be an utter disaster. My imagination—for once unwelcome—flared to life: Prince Liam trailing me around Arador, his gaze lovesick and drooling while he spouted love sonnets…panic swelled, tightening my chest. He couldn’t follow me. I was already being forced to endure the humiliation of being banished to the bakery by the crown prince, like a toddler being sent to her room for a time-out. Having everyone know of my love spell would escalate an already mortifying situation.

  Besides, it’d be impossible to search for a reversal spell with him around. Right now I didn’t want to think about my own fairy tale but rather Eileen’s, considering her story was currently experiencing the most tragic twist—a twist that I, the dastardly villain Rosalina, had caused—and I was desperate to do whatever it took to make amends. If I could just reverse the spell, could Eileen be reconciled with her own prince?

  I glanced towards her, standing rigidly in the entrance hall with Aiden beside her, his arm around her waist. Despite the affectionate gesture, they weren’t speaking to one another, the tension from their recent fight still cloaking them.

  And it was all my fault.

  Prince Liam continued to lament our separation until Alastar—who stood rigidly nearby, waiting to escort us to Arador at Aiden’s insistence—broke his role of being a silent and invisible guard in order to come to my rescue.

  “Your Highness, I hate to be the bearer of disappointment, but I feel compelled to remind you that only yesterday I heard you inform Prince Aiden that you were soon expected back in Draceria for royal duties.”

  Prince Liam frowned at Ali—whose face was as usual expressionless, but whose eyes contained a meaningful look I couldn’t decipher—before he sighed.

  “As much as it pains me to admit it, he’s correct.” He took my hand again, squeezing my fingers as his startling blue gaze seeped into mine. “But don’t fear, darling; even if we’re separated physically, you’ll never leave my thoughts or my heart.”

  I tried to smile, but my lips weren’t cooperating.

  “Despite our separation,” he continued, “I’ll continue to assure you of my devotion.”

  I wished he’d release my hand. His own was rather sweaty. I sent Eileen a pleading look, and she managed to thaw from her dazed stupor. She shook off Aiden’s embrace. “It’s time for us to depart.”

  I followed Eileen out into the sunshine and down the steps to the awaiting carriage, Prince Liam remaining devotedly at my side. He pressed my hand, which he still had yet to relinquish, against his heart. “I’ll think of you every moment.”

  The driver opened the carriage door and Aiden helped Eileen up, keeping his hold on her hand. “Eileen?” he murmured. She finally met his gaze. For a moment they stared at one another before they embraced. “Have a good time. I’ll miss you.”

  “I’ll miss you, too.”

  He kissed her cheek before reluctantly releasing her and stepping aside so I could enter the carriage. I turned to Ali to seek his assistance, but Prince Liam did the honors instead. “I’ll write you five letters a day,” he said.

  I almost groaned at the thought. “I’d hate to distract you from your royal duties.”

  He considered. “How thoughtful, darling. Very well, three letters a day, but don’t ask me to do anything less; I couldn’t bear it.”

  I sighed and managed to finally yank my hand free. Ali climbed in after me and the door closed. I wiped my hand on my gown. The carriage started moving. Prince Liam jogged beside it. “I’ll count down the moments until our reunion. We’ll be together soon, my love.”

  The carriage blessedly picked up speed and he fell back. He blew me kisses until we’d rolled out of the gates. I sighed and leaned back on the velvet seat in relief.

  “That love spell’s much more potent than I thought it would be; I have no idea how I’m going to reverse it. What if he misses me so much he follows us?” I peeked out the window and was relieved to see that so far he hadn’t.

  Eileen made no comment. She pressed her face against the glass to watch the passing scenery. In the window’s reflection I could see the tears she couldn’t hold back any longer.

  My heart wrenched. “Eileen?”

  She sniffled and didn’t say anything. I tried again.

  “Eileen, I’m so sorry about—”

  She wiped her wet cheeks but didn’t look at me. “Not now, Rosie. I need some time.”

  The silent treatment—a punishment I thoroughly deserved for having ruined her life. The guilt twisted my heart, made worse by the fact I had no idea how to atone for my mistakes.

  I glanced at Ali, sitting rigidly on the opposite seat, arms folded and his usual serious expression in place. I waited for him to lift one of his eyebrows or for his lips to twitch, anything to indicate I wasn’t in as much disgrace as I feared.

  His face remained frozen. Unsurprising, considering I was in disgrace. I may have narrowly avoided Prince Liam following us to Arador, but he still believed himself in love with me, and as desperately as I’d fought for him to feel those emotions, they’d come at far too high of a cost.

  It was the quietest carriage ride I’d ever endured, a torturous silence that was only broken by Eileen’s occasional sniffles
. She cried the entire three-hour ride back to Arador, her fingers wrapped around the pearl necklace that had been a gift from Aiden, meaning she was thinking of him and missing all I’d broken between them.

  With every turn of the carriage wheels and each tear I saw trickle down Eileen’s cheek, my remorse grew. I was not only a dastardly villain but a terrible friend. Eileen had been blessed with a fairy-tale romance, and I, in my selfishness in trying to create my own, had destroyed hers. Regret squeezed my insides, suffocating and making me feel utterly helpless. How could I ever fix this?

  My hands twisted and untwisted in my lap as my mind spun frantically, but for once I didn’t welcome this visit from my imagination. A story played across my mind—my best friend dying of a broken heart, a grief-stricken Aiden feeding me to the dragons in revenge…no, too extreme. I forced myself to push away such a drastic possibility and allow a more likely scenario to fill my thoughts instead—arriving in Arador as the banished, disgraced castoff from the royal family, where I’d live out the remainder of my days in lonely misery.

  I startled when Alastar reached across the space dividing our seats and rested his hand over mine to still their shaking. He didn’t say anything, just gave me an assuring look, as if promising me everything would be alright, but how could it possibly be after the mess I’d created?

  The carriage rolled into Arador and stopped in front of Eileen’s cottage at the edge of the woods. She didn’t even wait for the driver to assist her before she opened the door. Ali immediately moved to follow her but froze at Eileen’s teary glare.

  “No, Alastar, I don’t want you accompanying me.”

  “But Your Highness, I’m under orders to—”

  “Please, don’t address me by my title, not here. For just a few days, I don’t want to be a princess but just Eileen.” She ignored the driver’s hand and jumped down. Ali scrambled towards the door before she stopped him with her hand. “No, Alastar, I mean it.”

  “But His Highness ordered me to—”

  “I don’t care,” she snapped. “Aiden isn’t here; I am, and as such I give the orders, and I’m ordering you to stay. You will stay with Rosie. Guard her or guard nothing—I don’t care.”